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Three friends are on expedition in Greenland, planning to ski coast to coast across the ice sheet a classic journey first undertaken by Nansen in 1888. However they are immediately caught up in the misfortunes of a scientific expedition which is there to research global warming. They discover the expedition snocat stuck down a crevasse and witness one of the scientists being attacked by a polar bear. The start of their trip is put off so they can help out, during which time one of them falls in love with the only female scientist, creating tension in the group. However they eventually get away and successfully complete their ice cap crossing, which is not without its own misadventures in the snow and ice. But on return their fate remains entangled with that of the scientists, who have reported that the girl has gone missing. Once more they help out and suspicions arise that the accidents are more than mere misfortune.

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James Fenton has long had an interest in polar regions, his first job being with the British Antarctic Survey. Since then he has been in Scotland, working as an ecologist and also launching the monthly news digest SCENES: Scottish Environment News. He has led ski expeditions to the Arctic and recently published the booklet A Field Guide to Ice.

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